You Don’t Have To Be an Extreme Sweeper To Be a Winner!

As most of your know TLC is producing Extreme Sweepers (High Stakes Sweepers) and it airs August 14th, 2011. The show will showcase people who spend up to 60 hours a week enter sweepstakes to be become big winners. If you have been following my site long enough you will know you don’t need to spend that much time to be a big winner.

My philosophy is to be smart about what you enter – “work smarter, not harder” – it applies to life in general and also to the hobby of sweeping.

I have been entering sweepstakes for 18+ years and in that time have won plenty of good prizes. I usually win something once a week and I only enter from 15 to 30 minutes a day. I have won a truck, cash, computers, tablets, Smartphones, furniture, trips, clothes, appliances, food, and just about everything there was to win.

It doesn’t take entering 60 hours a week to win on a regular basis.

Channel Guide Magazine said this about sweepstakes

The special showcases the strategy and surprising winnings of five everyday people who do everything they can to win big. And, they are not alone. According to the Direct Marketing Association, 55 million Americans per year enter sweepstakes, and around 15 million enter four or more a year. Read more

I always knew there were a lot of people entering sweepstakes but didn’t realize it was quite that many. If those numbers are correct then that means being smart about what you enter is more important now than ever. Yes, the Extreme Sweeper show will showcase “Sweepstakes Superstars” and it will also bring more competition to the hobby but that doesn’t mean you, or I, have to stop winning.

When I started entering sweepstakes back in 1993 the only way you could enter was through the mail or in your local area. I found the Internet in 1996 and we were all worried that the competition of the Internet would change how much we won just like you are worried that the new TV shows on sweepstakes will create more competition.

The Internet changed the way we enter, brought the hobby into the digital age, and taught us new skills. Today I win just as much as I did back when there was no Internet access and I believe I win even more because there are so many more sweepstakes available now.

Think of your part in the hobby of sweepstakes as a competitor. You are competing against everyone else who wants to win, as if you were in a sport. Never fear any competition. It makes you hone your skill and get better at whatever you do. Think of the hobby as you being an athlete in the Olympics. Who is going to take the gold medal? I will if you don’t because I’m in it to win it!

This hobby will always have it’s spikes in interest as it is advertised on TV, in online and in newspapers. The seasoned sweeper who is smart about how they enter will always win no matter how many people find out about it. Many people who learn about this hobby will drop off once they find out there is work involved. They want the quick win and don’t stick around long enough to enjoy the rewards long-term.

You have to learn how to be a Smart Sweeper to win on a regular basis. Many will enter but few will win as they say.

How to be a Smart Sweeper Who Wins:

Enter sweepstakes that aren’t as highly publicized. Why would you spend everyday entering a sweepstakes on a Facebook page that has 3 million members when you could be entering a sweepstakes on a Facebook page with say 500 members. If you find a sweepstakes on a national brand’s Facebook page or website you can be guaranteed your odds of winning have just gone down dramatically. The brand’s loyal customers will enter right alongside the sweepstakes hobbies. Enter once and move on. Search out those Facebook pages with less fans.

Enter local sweepstakes. When you enter sweepstakes that are local to your state you have a better shot of winning. You can find local sweepstakes in grocery, drug stores or restaurants. You can also find them through your local radio or TV station. You can find them online. You can also join Sweeties Secret Sweeps and find even more because we do a lot of the work for you by finding and posting them on our site. The Secret site is just part of your sweeping portfolio. You also need to search out locals for yourself if you want more sweepstakes to enter. No one person or site will give you every sweepstakes that is available to enter so keep your eye out in your local area for winning opportunities.

Get a Sweeps Buddy. Just like a member of a Triathlon team, having a sweeps buddy will help you win more because you will work together to help each other find sweepstakes. Each person might want to focus on certain prizes and in that way you can be on the lookout for sweeps for each other and share them. Find someone in your state and help each other find the locals. A sweeps buddy can also encourage you to keep going when you aren’t winning or what we call “dry spells”.

Entering Quick-Ending Sweeps. Many sweepstakes last a day, few days, or just a week. These are the hardest to find but if you know how to search you can find and enter them before anyone even knows about them.

Enter Daily. I win because I am consistent. I enter everyday of my life. It sounds like a lot but if you break it down to 15 minutes a day as you have time it really isn’t. Of course, you can skip days and still win and yes, I have missed out on entering some days so don’t worry if that happens. What I am trying to stress is being consistent. Don’t take a week or month off. Enter everyday that you can.

Do you really want to win? Then follow these steps and you will win on a regular basis. Be consistent, enter the locals and winnable sweeps, work with a partner, and you will reap the benefits!

If you are a new to entering sweepstakes you will want to sign up for my FREE e-Course, Sweeping 101, to learn how you too can win just like other Sweeties Readers.

Sweetie,
What these shows may bring, instead of competition, is more companies may offer sweepstakes. I don’t know about the sweepers on the “extreme show”, but I take my “duty” as a winner seriously and make sure that people know who gave me the prize. I give the companies that give me great prizes great advertising. I believe companies offering sweepstakes is a very smart way for them to advertise their company, much more so than watching a commercial. All I know is I’m not going to stop! Good luck, everyone!

Dawn. I do the same thing. We need to promote the brands and thank them if we want to see them continue offering sweepstakes. They have them in the first place to promote their brand and sell products, not for us to have a hobby.

Well said Dawn! That is just how I feel that these companies offer up these sweeps as a way to drive traffic and sales to their site, company, or specific products. I support those companies, I’ve printed off coupons from sweeps .. I buy their products not just win on their sweeps. If you don’t support the companies they will stop putting up the prizes. They don’t just do a sweep to do a sweep they want some publicity. I also never thought that the shows will drive more companies to do sweeps! That would be nice.. more sweeps mean more spread out and chances will get better. The key to me is being consistent, I am consistent with my entries, theories, and plans of attack to enter and it has paid off for me! You have to be in it to win it…

That’s true, and in the same vein, I don’t enter sweeps of companies that I have a moral problem with for that very reason. Example: I don’t want to promote cigarettes personally, so it would be silly of me to enter their sweeps, win, and then promote them by explaining how I won their prizes.

There are *plenty* of other companies I won’t mind advertising, should they choose me as a winner.

I have a question — If I use one of my “extra” email accounts that I have, to sign up for sweepstakes, but it is one that I do NOT check… I just keep for junk.. and delete stuff every few months.. .is that ok? My question is — do any sweepstakes ever use an EMAIL to contact you when you win?? or just a phone number and/or address?? thanks. Just wondering, cuz if someone would try to tell me I won, by using only the email address i gave, then I would never know! Can you let me know. thanks

I started entering about a month ago, I spend close to 3 hrs every am entering. I try to get it done and out of the way so I don’t have to worry about it the rest of the day. I know alot of them, the one’s from major magazines I have a one in a zillion chance. But hey, someone has to win right? that’s what keeps me going. It does tire you out, it becomes a real hard job. I’m on disability and you know I don’t have enough money for basic’s though the end of the month. I did stop entering to win a car because I don’t have the money to pay the taxes on it. Sad but true. AS I will be needing one in the near future. Thanks for your info. I need to learn how to find the close to home sweeps

i just started entering contest and doing sweepstakes maybe for a month or two. i enter the same ones everyday although i have only won one thing i am still keeping up my hopes. I think its alot of fun. i feel like its a waste of time though when i dont win! do people make up a bunch of different email addresses so that they can win? because i dont understand how people can win so much so many times when so many people play? i guess they have good luck! is there anything anyone can tell me that can make my odds of winning go up?